A Verse
Ephesians 1:18-19a
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
A Comment
Paul talks about the illuminating or enlightening work of God in 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. There, he writes about the impartation of wisdom to those who mature, but it is not wisdom “from this age or the rulers of this age.” It is a wisdom rooted in God, which confounds the wisdom of our day and age. It is a revelation that is scandalous to both the ancient and modern minds. It is scandalous because no one could have imagined that God’s appointed King, the Messiah, the Christ who would come and rule over God’s people would come and instead of physically throwing off the oppression of the foreign nations would actually die at the hand of the empire. How could the Christ be killed?
Paul recognizes that this is God’s wisdom that usurps the expectations and understandings of the ancient mind. Such wisdom is only understood as a result of the Holy Spirit, who “searches everything, even the depths of God.” Paul wrote, “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.”
Paul goes on to explain that “the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to discern them because they are spiritually discerned.” Thus, we who have believed in Christ do so because the Spirit of God has illuminated our hearts to see Him as He truly is in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I mention all of this to say that not only do we need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to initially see Christ in the Gospel but we continue to need the Holy Spirit in order to discern the things of God. Spiritual matters are spiritually discerned.
So, what does Paul have in mind in terms of this more intimate knowledge of God that results from the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit? We find the answer and the content of Paul’s prayer in verses 18-19, where Paul prayed that the Ephesian church would know the glory of God as it is revealed in the hope of our calling, the riches of our inheritance, and the greatness of His power toward us who believe in Christ Jesus. In other words, at the heart of Paul’s prayer is his desire for his audience to have a deep knowledge of the blessings that are theirs in Jesus Christ.
A Prayer
O’ Lord, thank you for revealing Christ to us by the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit. In Your great mercy, give us eyes to see and ears to hear this morning. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Blessing
Now the Father who chose you,
the Son that bought you,
the Spirit who dwells in you,
go before you in your darkness,
stand beside you in your fears,
hold you up in your sorrows,
until Jesus comes. Amen.
From Grace Be with You: Benedictions from Dale Ralph Davis
More Light, O' Lord